The Minn. Teacher Behind 'The Body'

One morning last November, Mae Schunk called Phalen Lake Elementary
School to say she would be reporting to school a half-hour late. It
apparently was a first for her in 36 years as an educator, but it
couldn't be helped. She had gotten only two hours' sleep the night
before.

Ms. Schunk arrived at 9 a.m. to find the school principal, the
district superintendent, and other top administrators waiting at the
front door. "Oh, I'm so sorry I'm late," the 64-year-old teacher said,
ducking past them. "I'll get right to my kids."

But before she started down the hall, Ms. Schunk, who worked with
gifted and talented students at the St. Paul school, was directed to
the gymnasium. There, Phalen Lake's 750 students were waiting to greet
her.

Minnesota Lt. Gov.
Mae Schunk

Age: 64

Education: Bachelor of science
in elementary education, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire,
1958. Master's degree in educational leadership studies,
University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minn., 1989.

Experience: Educator for 36
years, including 22 years in the 45,000-student St. Paul
school district. For the past two years, she has served as a
teacher of gifted and talented students at Phalen Lake
Elementary School. She also has worked as an assistant
principal and curriculum specialist.

Current residence: Inver Grove
Heights, a suburb of St. Paul.

Personal: Married to William
Schunk for more than 40 years; one son, Benjamin.

"I walked into the gym and they had all these signs, and there was
music and the kids were so excited they were clapping and yelling," Ms.
Schunk recalls, her voice catching at the memory. "It was a party like
I can't tell you. They had a cake that said, 'Congratulations,
Lieutenant Governor.' It was like, 'How did they get all this done in
half an hour?' "

Less than one month into her term as second-in-command to
Minnesota's unconventional new governor, Jesse Ventura, it's clear that
Ms. Schunk's career in the classroom is still unshakably in her heart
and in her head. And that's exactly where she and the
former-professional-wrestler-turned-governor want to keep it.

Knowing little about education policy and schools, by his own
admission, Mr. Ventura purposely sought a teacher for his running mate
after he was nominated as the Reform Party's long-shot candidate for
governor during a convention last spring.

Based on the recommendation of a mutual acquaintance, he and Ms.
Schunk met for the first time last June over salad and lemonade and
talked for more than two hours about how they would improve the state's
schools, if given the chance. After just one more meeting, the
candidate known by his wrestling nickname, "The Body," offered Ms.
Schunk the No. 2 spot on the ticket.

Education Running Mate

For a teacher nearing retirement with a self-described "passion" for
education but no real partisan leanings or political experience, the
opportunity was too good to turn down.

"What he thought was wrong with education fit into what I thought
was wrong," Ms. Schunk said in an interview. "My son said, 'Mom, now
you can teach all the kids in Minnesota.' "

A former member of Education Minnesota, the state's combined
National Education Association-American Federation of Teachers
affiliate, Lt. Gov. Schunk has taught nearly every elementary grade and
worked on a state task force related to the National Education Goals
Panel. She said she feels well-qualified to fulfill her new
responsibilities, which include serving on the boards of several
statewide associations, speaking at state events, and pinch-hitting for
the governor when he's unavailable. Unofficially, as Mr. Ventura's
designated "point person" for education, her duties are much broader.
She is, in short, an advocate for what she feels is best for
Minnesota's children.

In their first few months in office, Ms. Schunk and the governor
plan to make a priority of pushing for greater parental involvement in
education and urging the legislature to increase state aid for
class-size reduction in grades K-3, from $87 million this year to a
proposed $237 million.

Ms. Schunk traces her interest in such issues not only to her years
in the classroom, but also to her days growing up on a dairy farm in
rural Wisconsin. As a child of Croatian immigrants, Ms. Schunk--whose
maiden name was Gasparac--remembers starting 1st grade in a one-room
schoolhouse, barely able to speak English. Thanks to the school's
intimacy, and her parents' emphasis on education, she learned
quickly.

These days, in tackling education policy issues, including the
legislature's current debate over how to change the state's
controversial Profile of Learning high school graduation standards, set
for implementation this spring, Ms. Schunk is sorting through piles of
mail from teachers and looking back on her experiences.

Even as she spent long hours on the campaign trail last summer, Ms.
Schunk worked with fellow educators at Phalen Lake Elementary to match
the state's standards to the school's curriculum.

"I think the standards need some adjusting," she said one day
recently, sitting in her functional new office in the State Capitol
surrounded by empty shelves and unpacked boxes. "The bottom line is we
need some accountability. Throw out what doesn't work, keep what does
work."

Having aspired all her life to be a teacher, Ms. Schunk said leaving
the classroom was hard. When she describes her duties at Phalen Lake,
she still talks in the present tense. And while she welcomed the
victory, she acknowledged she "truly did not expect that we would win."
Gov. Ventura scored his upset win with 37 percent of the vote in a
three-way race.

Still, Ms. Schunk said, she knows educators are excited to have a
representative at the highest level of state government. "As I talk to
groups of people, I can just feel the kids poking at me," she said. "I
just feel them like they're in my body and in my mind. Supporting me
for what I'm saying."

Back to School

On the campaign trail, Ms. Schunk pledged to visit schools in each
of the state's 348 school districts as a way to bring the varied
concerns of teachers and students back here to the capital.

On a visit to nearby Highland Park Elementary School, the new
lieutenant governor still seems far more like a down-to-earth teacher
than a polished politician.

She is met at the door with a hug from Highland Park's principal,
Judy Tenney, who served as Ms. Schunk's very first student-teacher 30
years ago.

Ms. Schunk walks the halls wearing a wide smile and the no-nonsense
brown boots she put on to trudge across St. Paul's slushy sidewalks.
She pokes her head into classrooms to talk to teachers and admire
children's schoolwork.

During an assembly held in her honor, Ms. Schunk offers to answer
three questions from the students. All of them eagerly wave their hands
to volunteer.

Once selected, one boy stands dumbstruck. "I saw you on TV," he
sputters.

As the students giggle nervously, the lieutenant governor says, in
her gentlest tone: "That's a statement. Now, ask a question."

She wraps up the visit with a lesson, telling the students why they
should never judge people by the way they look.

"When my husband first showed me pictures of Jesse Ventura as a
wrestler, I thought, 'Oh my,' " Ms. Schunk admits matter-of-factly.
"But when I met Jesse, he was so sincere and felt so strongly about
children and families. I thought, 'I can be lieutenant governor for
this person, because he's a lot like me as a person.' "

Ground Rules for Posting
We encourage lively debate, but please be respectful of others. Profanity and personal attacks are prohibited. By commenting, you are agreeing to abide by our user agreement.
All comments are public.